Wasps forward James Haskell hopes to work his way back into England contention
in time for the 2015 World Cup

James Haskell has told Stuart Lancaster that he is keen to be part of England’s plans for the 2015 World Cup having become one of the forgotten men of English rugby during a five-month injury lay-off.

The versatile back-row forward has not played for England since last season’s Six Nations decider against Wales in Cardiff but took his first tentative step on the road back to full fitness as a second-half replacement in Wasps’ Amlin Challenge Cup win over Bayonne at Adams Park last Thursday.

Haskell underwent surgery on his left knee during the summer in an attempt to cure tendinitis, the painful result of repeated jarring during the first 10 years of his career.

The injury forced Haskell to miss England’s summer tour to Argentina and meant that he was sidelined when Lancaster was looking for back-row replacements for the forthcoming QBE internationals after Leicester’s Tom Croft suffered a knee ligament injury last month.

But Haskell, 28, has been included in Lancaster’s England Saxons squad and has reassured England’s head coach that he retains the ambition to add to his 50 senior caps.

“I have been asked a few times whether I am retired and whether I still play rugby. For me that’s a nice challenge,” Haskell said.

“There’s a lot of excitement around this England side, there are some very good players in that back row but I kind of like being the underdog and being written off.

“It’s happened to me before and I want to keep plugging away. Wasps is a great platform to do that. I am still massively keen to play for England. When Stuart asked me what my thoughts were on it I said: 'I am mad for it.'

"I haven’t been shouting from the rooftops to do it but I think he just wanted to make sure the guys were all on board. One thing he has done and the coaches have done is to make sure they instil that value into the [England] shirt. The 2015 World Cup is coming up and there is no place for guys who don’t want to be there.

“I have been around for quite a long time and sometimes you feel the passion dies a little bit or you have got other interests.

“I think it’s difficult for guys outside looking in. They go: oh James is doing something off the field, he’s doing this, he’s doing that, I’m not under the radar ever. But am I still interested and the answer is I am massively interested [in playing for England] because I would not have worked as hard as I have with all the rehab to get back in the mix.”

During his lengthy absence Haskell has kept himself busy with a number of business ventures including his own coffee brand, Angry Squirrel. England captain Chris Robshaw has also launched his own coffee brand recently but Haskell claims, with tongue in cheek, that talking business with his international back-row colleague is difficult.

“What haven’t I done to keep myself busy?” Haskell said. “Luckily I have always been entrepreneurial business-sense wise. I have been training here and the rehab has been pretty rigorous with two or three sessions a day.

“I have taken up yoga and business-wise I am running my fitness business, doing quite a lot of work for BT and I‘ve been making coffee.

“I need to talk to Robbo [Robshaw]. He’s big-time now when it comes to me trying to get an appointment with him. He says his people need to speak to my people and we will do lunch. He’s got no time for his old mates.”

What Haskell has found more difficult is watching Wasps and young back-row players such as Guy Thompson, Nathan Hughes, Sam Jones and Ed Jackson take their opportunity in his absence.

“I try to support the team but there’s not a lot of rugby I want to sit and watch. It’s quite daunting if you want to come back and get fit and you watch big, powerful, speedy guys playing great rugby. You think: ‘Oh God I’ve got to get back into that, how do I do that?’ ” Haskell said.

Haskell is confident that he is physically and mentally ready to be playing rugby again.

“When you are doing rehab you think that when you have an op you are going to be completely pain-free and everything is going to be fine. Sometimes that’s not the case. You work your body and it gets sore and there are times when you want to be back running and being dynamic but it takes time,” Haskell said.

“The medical staff at Wasps have been fantastic and have eased me back in. Mentally I felt fit two weeks ago but bringing me back against Bayonne was the right decision. We will take it stage by stage.”